Spanish State

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Flag of the Spanish State

The Spanish State (Estado Español) was the formal name given to Spain from 1936 to 1978 by the régime of Francisco Franco (d. 1975.)

When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, the Nationalist forces immediately began using the form the Spanish State rather than the Spanish Republic or the Spanish Monarchy, out of deference to the differing political sensibilities of the members of the Nationalist coalition, which included the fascistic Falangists and the rival monarchist parties the Carlists and the Legitimists. The Republic continued to be the functional government of part of the country until 1939, when it was finally defeated by the Nationalists.

The Spanish State was declared a monarchy in 1947, but no king was designated; the Head of State, Franco, reserved for himself the right to name the person to be king, and deliberately delayed the selection due to political considerations. The selection finally came in 1969, with the designation of Juan Carlos de Borbón as Franco's official successor (this selection was an unpleasant surprise for many interested parties, as Juan Carlos was the rightful heir for neither the Carlists nor the Legitimists).

With the death of Franco and the dismantling of the Francoist régime, the Spanish State ceased to exist, being thoroughly reconstituted as the Kingdom of Spain, a parliamentary monarchy, where the head of state reigns, but does not rule.

The term El Estado Español and its translations are still used by (regional) nationalists, particularly from Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia, who do not recognise Spain as a nation but rather as a state made up of several nations, a usage also adopted by various left-wing circles throughout the world. In this usage, for example, una empresa estatal is to be understood as "a company from the rest of Spain" rather than "a state-owned company". This pattern may also be used while referring to foreign countries, such as El Estado Francés ("French State") for France.

Spanish State

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